Dan Bosley on "Policy Obstacles to the Solar Industry in the Northeast"

On Friday, February 26^th, Dan Bosley visited the log to speak about policy obstacles to solar industry in the Northeast. As a former Massachusetts State Representative for the Berkshire District and a Government Relations Executive at the Northeast Clean Energy Council, Dan graciously shared his knowledge and opinion for the future of national and regional clean energy policies.

 

During his 24 years as a State Representative, Dan served as chair of the Joint Committee on Energy, a member of the conference committee on budgeting, co-author of the life science and electricity restructuring bill, and the National Chair of the Council of State Governments for the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Council. Dan’s expertise and passion for clean energy reform in Massachusetts resulted in an informative and engaging log lunch presentation. Dan’s main message was that “Clean energy makes sense!” With solar energy technology, wind and hydroelectricity potential in the region there should be a strong initiative for investment in renewable energy. There has been great progress in the science of clean energy, now it is time for policy to support these efforts. Dan went on the add that the current “crisis” facing the regions electricity system’s restructuring plan is the inability to reach a consensus on a standard for the net metering cap. In his opinion there should be no cap on renewable energy systems. A net metering cap would take away consumer incentivizes to invest in renewable energy if they are unable to benefit from this energy saving strategy by selling stored energy back to the grid. It is a challenge to generate profit for companies this way, but it is a challenge that policy makers should strive to address in innovative ways that can set a precedent for future progress in the field of renewable energy systems. Until policy reform works with energy technologies to help transition away from conventional coal energy, our region and the nation will continue to fail in addressing important environmental issues.